A Cybereason ransomware study suggests 80% of firms that paid a ransom had a second attack and often from the same source.
The Colonial Pipeline paid roughly $5 million in ransom to hackers. JBS, the world’s largest processed meat supplier admitted to paying $11 million.
The REvil gang behind the attack against managed service provider, Kaseya over the Fourth of July weekend demanded $70 million in ransom to unlock computers around the world.
Read: Kaseya Confirms Sophisticated Cyberattack Over The Holiday Weekend
Cybereason’s report shows that those who had paid the ransom, 40% said that during the recovery at least some of their data was corrupted.
“Paying a ransom demand does not guarantee a successful recovery, does not prevent the attackers from hitting the victim organization again, and in the end only exacerbates the problem by encouraging more attacks. Getting in front of the threat by adopting a prevention-first strategy for early detection will allow organizations to stop disruptive ransomware before they can hurt the business,” said Lior Div CEO and Co-founder of Cybereason in a statement.
Other key findings of the report include:
- Loss of Business Revenue: 66 percent of organizations reported significant loss of revenue following a ransomware attack.
- Ransom Demands Increasing: 35 percent of businesses that paid a ransom demand shelled out between $350,000-$1.4 million, while 7 percent paid ransoms exceeding $1.4 million.
- Brand and Reputation Damage: 53 percent of organizations indicated that their brand and reputation were damaged as a result of a successful attack
- C-Level Talent Loss: 32 percent of organizations reported losing C-Level talent as a direct result of ransomware attacks
- Employee Layoffs: 29 percent reported being forced to layoff employees due to financial pressures following a ransomware attack
- Business Closures: A startling 26 percent of organizations reported that a ransomware attack forced the business to close their business for some period of time.
Final Thoughts
It does not pay to pay ransomware attackers. Organizations must focus on early detection and prevention strategies at the earliest stages before critical systems and data are in jeopardy.
For IT Pros, ask how your company is preparing to address ransomware threats.
If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our digital newsletters!
Leave a Reply